ST. PETERSBURG AND DUDEDIN, FLA. — CBRE has arranged $12.5 million in financing for two apartment communities in St. Petersburg and Dunedin. One of the properties is Gateway Apartments, a 144-unit community on Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg that consists of 11 one- and two-story buildings. The second is Lo Garto Apartments, a 188-unit community at 257 Milwaukee Ave. Amenities include on-site laundry facilities, a fitness center and designated dog walking area. Charles Foschini, Christian Lee and Christopher Apone of CBRE arranged the 10-year loans through Freddie Mac.
DURHAM, N.C. — Mount Olive College, a small, private Christian college, has renewed its lease for 17,904 square feet at Central Park South, located at 5001 S. Miami Blvd. in Durham. Central Park South is part of a two-building office campus totaling 220,500 square feet. Mount Olive renewed its lease for seven years. Lee Clyburn of Avison Young represented the landlord, James Campbell Co., in the transaction. Gardner Gibson of David Moore Advisors represented the tenant.
WALDORF, MD. — Osval & Associates LLC has acquired JSB Apartments, a 48-unit apartment property in Waldorf, for $4.8 million. The property is located at 2165 Crane Highway along a major commercial corridor. Josh Feldman and Peggy Brooks Smith of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer in the transaction.
Overall, the Atlanta real estate market has continued to improve. Low interest rates have helped stabilize assets and attract new business, with manufacturing leading the way. At the end of first quarter 2012, CoStar Group reported the overall Atlanta industrial vacancy rate was 15.5 percent. For the same period ending in 2013, CoStar reported the vacancy had fallen to 12.7 percent. Those numbers have not come easy and are a true testament to the quality of Atlanta’s real estate brokers, landlords and owners who have shown a creative ability to solve problems and make deals. The past 12 months have been filled with exciting new project announcements, including build-to-suits. Among the companies that have announced construction projects include Baxter Healthcare, Porsche, PPG, Caterpillar, Hill Phoenix and Mitsubishi. Additionally, companies such as US Lumber, Subaru, American Building Supply, Atlanta Bonded, Carters and Decoster have recently expanded, filling existing vacancies in the market. While the list is impressive, we need more expansion from the existing industry. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population in Atlanta’s MSA was 5.4 million in 2012, which included 1.9 million households. STDB Online data service projects that the Atlanta MSA population will increase at an average …
ATLANTA — Colonial Properties Trust has sold Three Ravinia, an 814,000-square-foot Class A office asset in Atlanta, for $144.3 million. The property is 92.1 percent occupied. Colonial plans to use proceeds from the sale to repay a portion of its outstanding balance on the company's unsecured credit facility.
HARRISONBURG, VA. — Morgan Property Group (MGP) has acquired land for the development of a new freestanding 7-Eleven store in Harrisonburg. MPG acquired the 1.1 acres from Trenton Inc. for $1 million. 7-Eleven Inc. will lease the project and develop a 2,940-square-foot convenience store with six pumping stations. MPG will break ground on the new store in June. The store is expected to open this fall.
PARAGOULD, ARK. — Belk, the mid-range department store chain, is expanding and remodeling its store at the Town West Shopping Center in Paragould, located in northeast Arkansas. The $1.8 million project will add 10,000 square feet of space for a total of 48,000 square feet. The remodeling project will also include updated decor, new paint, carpet, tile aisles and lighting. The expansion will be complete in late September, prior to the store's grand reopening in October.
NORFOLK, VA. — Town Point Club Inc. has renewed its lease for 18,394 square feet of office space in the World Trade Center, located at 101 W. Main St. in Norfolk. Town Point Club is a private business club comprised of formal and casual dining areas, meeting rooms, business center, bar, lounge and smoking room. The membership includes business executives, military officers and entrepreneurs. Michael Divaris of Divaris Real Estate Inc. represented the tenant in the deal.
JEKYLL ISLAND, GA. — Jekyll Oceanfront Hotel LLC has broken ground on the $41 million Westin Jekyll Island, a 200-room beachfront hotel that will open in September 2014 as part of the Jekyll Island Beach Village project. The property will be located at 110 Ocean Way, adjacent to the new 128,000-square-foot Jekyll Island Convention Center. The hotel will feature a full-service restaurant and green design elements. When complete, New Castle Hotels and Resorts will operate the property.
ATLANTA — The Georgia Institute of Technology has selected Cooper Carry as the architect of record for the school's new 218,000-square-foot Engineered BioSystems Building. The $100 million project, located on the university's campus in Atlanta, will bring the College of Science and College of Engineering together for collaborative bio-engineering research. The project is the first phase of a four-phase expansion for Georgia Tech's bioscience research department. Lake Flato will serve as the design architect for the project and McCarthy Building Group is the general contractor. Completion is slated for 2014.